Popular downtown Springfield summer music festival not returning in 2024

Old Capitol Blues & BBQ , which attracted blues and pop performers like Ana Popovic , Albert Castiglia and Big Head Todd and the Monsters , is taking a hiatus this year, said its organizer Sunday.

The decision is due to "costs and logistics," said Barry Friedman, who acquired the rights to run the downtown festival from Downtown Springfield, Inc . in 2016.

It is held the last weekend of August.

More: Shaboozey, Keith Urban, Lil Wayne: Here are all of the Illinois State Fair headliners

"We will regroup and examine the possibility of returning in 2025," Friedman said.

Under Friedman, the festival featured bigger pop acts with a blues tinge, including Spin Doctors and Kim Wilson and the Fabulous Thunderbirds.

It drew area barbecue pitmasters and included a blues contest.

Friedman's bar, The Alamo, has long been the home of the Illinois Central Blues Club .

The bar will mark its 30th anniversary on Aug. 24 with a concert by blues harmonica player and vocalist and longtime bandleader of the Blues Survivors, Mark Hummel , and Anson Funderburgh.

Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788; sspearie@sj-r.com; X, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Popular downtown Springfield summer music festival not returning in 2024